2024 son wants to attend camp at a mid major D1 program this winter. This school still has openings for his class. His Achilles heal is his 60 time...he's still right at 7.0 seconds. He's a corner outfielder and has an elite bat. His secondary position is 2B. Would you send him to the camp or wait until he's sub 7 sec?
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Is 7.0 his best or his average? When was the last time he hit that number?
@TerribleBPthrower posted:Is 7.0 his best or his average? When was the last time he hit that number?
That is his recorded best and he currently can achieve that if asked to go run today. He consistently falls between 7.0-7.1 when doing multiple attempts.
Have the coaches had any conversations with your son? Would the camp require a hotel and airfare? Where is the school on his target list? And one last one to consider (I don't expect an answer but you should think about it), will this impact your ability later to pay for another camp down the road?
One of the things my son considered (on the advice of a recruiter and coaches) a 2 day camp is 3-4 days you're not in the gym or training. This time of year the kids are limited by the calendar to a specific number of days where they can work towards their goals before the spring practices start.
If the goal of the camp is to be discovered I'd save your time and money. If that isn't the goal then I would consider the other factors I mentioned above.
@TerribleBPthrower posted:Have the coaches had any conversations with your son? Would the camp require a hotel and airfare? Where is the school on his target list? And one last one to consider (I don't expect an answer but you should think about it), will this impact your ability later to pay for another camp down the road?
One of the things my son considered (on the advice of a recruiter and coaches) a 2 day camp is 3-4 days you're not in the gym or training. This time of year the kids are limited by the calendar to a specific number of days where they can work towards their goals before the spring practices start.
If the goal of the camp is to be discovered I'd save your time and money. If that isn't the goal then I would consider the other factors I mentioned above.
No airfare or hotel required. Email conversation only (direct personal ones that aren't mass emails). From the conversations, they are aware of him...just need an opportunity to actually "see" him. This camp is affordable and won't impact our ability to pay for another camp down the road. It's a half-day camp and will not impact his off-season training. It may impact his availability schedule down the road, as there seems to be a lot of college camps held in August.
We have concerns that the 7.0sec 60 time would scratch him off their list. Could a 7.0 time be negative exposure at a camp?
Most programs are now on 2024s.
If he has an elite bat, (not sure what that entails) and if it's not too far away why would you hesitate?
My son ran a 7.07 the summer before his junior year and PG Jr. Nationals (he did not run his best), ran a 6.7 a PG Nationals and 6.57 at East Coast Pro. They are still growing/developing so I would not let a 7.0 keep him from going to a camp of a school that has an interest. Especially if he takes good routes on balls (tell him to actually make plays on balls when they are shagging...not every single one but enough so that they can see what he does in the outfield) and has good instincts on the basepaths.
If he really has an “elite” bat a tenth of a second on his 60 time isn’t going to matter.
Is your travel coach involved in recruiting? What does he say? He may have a better sense of the school's interest than your son can get from emails.
@anotherparent posted:Is your travel coach involved in recruiting? What does he say? He may have a better sense of the school's interest than your son can get from emails.
He thinks it's better to wait because an OF should be sub 7.0
@Momball11 posted:He thinks it's better to wait because an OF should be sub 7.0
That’s not good advice if your son really has an “elite” bat. No college coach worth his salt is gonna say, “ I really like the way that kid squares up the baseball. He appears to be an elite hitter. But I just can’t recruit him until he shaves a tenth of a second off that 60 time.” Good case in point would be Sonny D. That kid can’t run out of his shadow. But he can really hit. Hit tool trumps all.
@adbono posted:That’s not good advice if your son really has an “elite” bat. No college coach worth his salt is gonna say, “ I really like the way that kid squares up the baseball. He appears to be an elite hitter. But I just can’t recruit him until he shaves a tenth of a second off that 60 time.” Good case in point would be Sonny D. That kid can’t run out of his shadow. But he can really hit. Hit tool trumps all.
This is what I was thinking and that's why I figured I should get multiple opinions.
@Momball11 posted:This is what I was thinking and that's why I figured I should get multiple opinions.
Sometimes it’s hard to figure out who to listen to. I don’t know anything about your particular travel ball coach. But I have coached 20 seasons of travel ball and I know a lot about travel ball coaches in general. More than not, they are not as tuned into college recruiting as they want you to think they are.
I agree with this - but at the least, in a situation like this, I would hope that the travel coach has contacted the coach at the school about your son, to gauge interest. When he says to wait, he is likely telling you that he's not willing to recommend your son to that school now. He may have previous experience with how these schools recruit. Or conversely, he may not know much at all. I would suggest that you have a detailed conversation with him about your son's recruiting, because, at the end of the day, he's a person who will tell college coaches whether your son can play at that level - even if he's wrong, I'd think you need to know where he stands. And, if you don't trust him, then you need to find someone you do trust.
I say this because my son was similar with the 60-time, and the travel coach kept saying "get it lower" without really explaining why - he also kept saying "could be mid-major D1" which is the slipperiest statement in high school baseball. We were too shy to ask. He's at a D3.
When you say your son is an elite hitter, do you mean hitting is his best tool? Hits for power (exit velo)? or average? Has a high batting average, gets on base a lot?
@anotherparent posted:I agree with this - but at the least, in a situation like this, I would hope that the travel coach has contacted the coach at the school about your son, to gauge interest. When he says to wait, he is likely telling you that he's not willing to recommend your son to that school now. He may have previous experience with how these schools recruit. Or conversely, he may not know much at all. I would suggest that you have a detailed conversation with him about your son's recruiting, because, at the end of the day, he's a person who will tell college coaches whether your son can play at that level - even if he's wrong, I'd think you need to know where he stands. And, if you don't trust him, then you need to find someone you do trust.
I say this because my son was similar with the 60-time, and the travel coach kept saying "get it lower" without really explaining why - he also kept saying "could be mid-major D1" which is the slipperiest statement in high school baseball. We were too shy to ask. He's at a D3.
When you say your son is an elite hitter, do you mean hitting is his best tool? Hits for power (exit velo)? or average? Has a high batting average, gets on base a lot?
Hitting is definitely his best tool. His exit velo is upper 90s. His average is typically around .400 (+/- .020 depending on pitching). OBP ranges from .450-.500.
We have had detailed conversations about his recruiting with his travel coach. Coach has called schools where he has contacts, but I'm not sure how much clout he has with them because he's relatively new to the coaching side. He does have many contacts from when he played college and in the MiLB.
Religiously, run up and down hills every day for the next couple weeks. It will suck, but he will be able to run a 6.8 afterwards. Then go to the camp. Problem solved.
It doesn't matter how fast you can run if you can hit/hit bombs.
On son's college team, the first baseman was sloooooow. Real slow. Coach told my son (2B) to cover everything around 1B that wasn't hit directly to the bag. It takes all types.
7.0 is recruitable.
Was he invited to the camp personally or thru his travel program? Or are you guys attending on your own/generic email invite?
I wouldn't attend unless I was specifically told to. Unless he's on a list of kids to watch he would really have to stand out, especially as a position player.
@Momball11 posted:Hitting is definitely his best tool. His exit velo is upper 90s. His average is typically around .400 (+/- .020 depending on pitching). OBP ranges from .450-.500.
Agree with Adbono and TPM... for a corner OF that hits for power, 7.0 isn't a big red flag. The .400 average and OBP #s you shared are meaningless without competitive context. Similarly, high exit velo on it's own doesn't speak to how it might translate. If he shows that he hits good pitching well and with power, he will draw attention just fine at 7.0. It seems like the event lines up well in every other way. If he is this kind of elite bat now, he should go.
@cabbagedad posted:
Yeah, as I was typing up that information I was thinking to myself..."how will any of those values matter without the competitive context?", but @anotherparent requested the information, so I obliged.
